ARCHITECTURE OF THE PICTURESQUE IN CANADA Janet Wright ©Parks Canada Agency,1984. Electronic edition, August, 2011. Catalogue No.: R61-2/9-17E ISBN: 0-660-11641-3, ISSN: 0821-1027 Originally submitted for publication by Janet Wright in 1982. The opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and not necessarily those of Parks Canada Agency. 2 CONTENTS 5 Introduction to the Electronic Edition, Preface 6 Acknowledgements and Introduction Part I The Picturesque in Britain 9 Origins of the Picturesque 13 The Picturesque in Theory 18 The Theory of Practice Part II The Picturesque in Canada 31 Introduction 31 Patrons of the Picturesque Regional Studies of the Picturesque 38 Ontario, 1790-1830 52 Ontario, Post-1830 97 Québec, 1780-1830 106 Québec, Post-1830 125 Atlantic Provinces 139 Conclusion 144 Appendix: List of Illustrations 146 Legend Sources 156 Bibliography 3 INTRODUCTION TO THE ELECTRONIC EDITION Parks Canada published a series of books on Canada’s architectural history in the 1970s and 1980s. Limited editions meant that these popular publications were soon out of print. Since then, these books have been con- sulted by generations of Canadians. They have been used by heritage organizations, university students and avid appreciators of Canada’s diverse architectural history. The books were soon unavailable for purchase, how- ever with the advent of new technology, Parks Canada has updated these publications and are now available in electronic format. These studies provide useful information and analysis for anyone interested in the field of Canadian architec- ture and perhaps will add to the general awareness and appreciation of this important part of Canada's heri- tage. Parks Canada’s Canadian Register of Historic Places is pleased to re-publish these books in their entirety in electronic format for Canadian citizens to enjoy. PREFACE This study is one of a series of studies that was prepared by Parks Canada on various architectural styles and tastes that have influenced Canadian building of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The research carried out for this study has been far from exhaustive but this very general survey will encourage others to pursue more diligently and in greater depth this distinctive phase of Canadian domestic building. The analysis of the origins of the Picturesque Movement in England is based primarily on a few major secon- dary sources and a sampling of the major aesthetic and architectural treatises and popular pattern books that defined or expressed the Picturesque point of view. Information on the architecture of the Picturesque in Can- ada was gathered from photographic, pictorial, cartographic and manuscript collections in archives and muse- ums across the country. Much of the documentation on the buildings examined in this study represents research carried out by other historians whose work has appeared in published form or who were generously willing to share their research material with me. The largest single source of documentation was located in the architectural files of the Cana- dian Inventory of Historic Building (CIHB). Many of the illustrations for this study are drawn from the photographic collection of the CIHB, which includes approximately 200,000 buildings dating before 1914. The CIHB was particularly useful in identifying some of the lesser-known buildings. Because of its broad sampling it also provided a useful tool for identifying patterns of geographic distribution and concentrations of general building types such as the cottage orné of Ontario and Québec. It is not the purpose of this paper solely to examine those buildings still standing but to provide a comprehen- sive picture of the wide range of buildings, from the grand to the modest, that expressed to some degree the Pic- turesque taste. In gathering visual material it quickly became apparent that although many examples of modest vernacular villas and cottages have survived, the more sophisticated, architect-designed examples did not fare as well. Because they tended to be located on the outskirts of important urban centres, they were naturally the first to fall prey to subsequent urban development. As a result, many of the buildings illustrated no longer stand and are known to us only through old photographs and drawings located in archival collections. However, by presenting illustrations of buildings that have been lost I hope we may appreciate more the value and impor- tance of those that have survived. Janet Wright (1984) 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In preparing this study I relied on the resources of many libraries, archives and research institutions across the country and in each instance I received the full and enthusiastic co-operation of all the staff members of these organizations. I am most indebted to my fellow historians at Parks Canada, parti- cularly Christina Cameron, Nathalie Clerk, Mary Cullen, Leslie Maitland and C. James Taylor, who read this manuscript in its various forms and whose criticisms and suggestions were most helpful. I would also like to thank Nicole Cloutier, Sandy Easterbrook and Ann Thomas who participated in the early stages of this study. I am very grateful to the many individuals and local and regional historical and ar- chitectural organizations who generously shared with me their unpublished research and their advice at every step in this project. In particular I would like to thank Margaret Angus, Kingston; City of Cobourg, Local Advisory Committee on Architectural Conservation (LACAC); Gordon Couling, Guelph; Don Cous- ins, St. Thomas; Pierre du Prey, Kingston; Wendy Fletcher, Toronto; Carrie Fortneath, Burnstown; Mrs. Bobi Grant and Barrie LACAC; Town of Goderich LACAC; Mrs. Thora Harvey and the Woodstock LA- CAC; Harry Hinchley and the Renfrew Historical Society; Robert Lemire, Montréal; Jennifer McKendry, Kingston; Michael McMordie, Calgary; Shirley Morris, Toronto; Olive Newcombe and the Dundas His- torical Society; Norfolk Historical Society; Shane O'Dea, St. John's; Robert Passfield, Parks Canada, Ot- tawa; Yvonne Pigott, Halifax; Lloyd B. Rochester, Ottawa; Irene Rogers, Charlottetown; J. Douglas Stew- art, Kingston; I. Maxwell Sutherland, Parks Canada; Annette Viel, Québec INTRODUCTION The Picturesque does not refer to an architectural style but to an aesthetic point of view which grew out of the English love for natural scenery and around which a new approach to landscape design was formu- lated during the last decade of the eighteenth century. Led by a small group of English aesthetic theorists, most notably Sir Uvedale Price, Sir Richard Payne Knight and a landscape designer, Humphry Repton, the Picturesque Movement sought to bring landscape design closer to nature by restoring and preserving its inherent visual qualities defined as irregularity, variety and intricacy in form, colour and texture and their effects of light and shadow. Only by cherishing these values could the designer create pleasing and harmonious compositions in landscape. It was generally agreed that these qualities had first been appreciated and captured by the great land- scape painters of the seventeenth century such as Claude Lorrain and Salvatore Rosa. It therefore fol- lowed that landscape design should model itself after landscape painting; for, by cultivating the painter's sensitivity to nature and by mastering painterly techniques of composition, effects of light and shadow, harmony of colour, and unity of character, the landscape designer would learn to enhance but not to alter nature's inherent Picturesque beauty. The Picturesque was primarily concerned with landscape design but it nevertheless exerted a profound impact on architecture during the nineteenth century.1 Within the landscape of the Picturesque, architec- ture was viewed as an integral but subsidiary part of the overall scenic composition which should be made to blend in and be in harmony both visually and emotionally with the character of its natural sur- roundings. In essence the Picturesque invited an approach to design aimed at pleasing the eye and the emotions over satisfying the intellect. Principles of congruity and the creation of interesting visual effects replaced abstract standards of architectural correctness based on classical precepts. Moreover, it was a viewpoint that provided the justification for an eclectic approach to style, for any mode or type of build- ing could be called upon if it suited the character or mood of the landscape. Exotic modes such as Hindu and Chinese, or more familiar styles such as Gothic or classical, or even humble building types previously considered outside the realm of serious architecture, such as the traditional English cottage, the vernacu- 5 lar Italian villa or the Swiss chalet, were incorporated into the Picturesque landscape. The Picturesque touched all aspects of architecture in Britain. It cultivated a taste for interesting visual effects created by effective silhouette, varied planes and textures and resulting effects of light and shadow, but it was essentially to the field of small house design in a rural or suburban environ- ment that the Picturesque aesthetic addressed itself. Unlike urban building which existed in a com- pletely man-made setting or large-scale building which tended to dominate its surroundings, small houses were viewed as integral parts of their landscape setting. The application of Picturesque prin- ciples to residential architecture resulted in the creation of new patterns and types of building re- ferred to as Picturesque villas